One Of Us Is Lying (TV Series)

''One of Us Is Lying'' is an American teen drama mystery television series developed by Erica Saleh. The series is based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Karen M. McManus and follows five high school students who enter detention, where one of them dies under suspicious circumstances and an investigation ensues. It stars Mark McKenna as Simon, the deceased student, and Annalisa Cochrane, Chibuikem Uche, Marianly Tejada, and Cooper van Grootel as the main suspects, with Barrett Carnahan, Jessica McLeod, and Melissa Collazo, Sara Thompson and Alimi Ballard in supporting roles. The series premiered on Peacock on October 7, 2021, and was met with generally positive reviews from critics. In January 2022, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on October 20, 2022.

Premise

At Bayview High, five studentsSimon, Addy, Cooper, Bronwyn, and Nateare given detention. Simon, known for starting an online gossip group with his friend Janae to snitch on his classmates, suffers a sudden and fatal allergic reaction. Each of the four students had a motive to kill Simon, and after it is determined his death was not an accident, an investigation ensues.

Cast

Main

* Annalisa Cochrane as Addy Prentiss, a popular cheerleader
* Chibuikem Uche as Cooper Clay, a closeted baseball pitcher with a promising career
* Marianly Tejada as Bronwyn Rojas, an overachiever focused on her future
* Cooper van Grootel as Nate Macauley, a student and drug dealer on probation
* Barrett Carnahan as Jake Riordan, the captain of the football team and Addy's boyfriend
* Jessica McLeod as Janae Matthews, Simon's best friend
* Mark McKenna as Simon Kelleher, the creator of an online gossip group who dies during detention (season 1, guest season 2)
* Melissa Collazo as Maeve Rojas, Bronwyn's younger sister
* Sara Thompson as Vanessa Clark, Addy's best friend and TJ's girlfriend (season 2, recurring season 1)
* Alimi Ballard as Kevin Clay, Cooper's father and coach (season 2, recurring season 1)

Recurring

* Zenia Marshall as Keely, Cooper's girlfriend
* George Ferrier as TJ Forrester, Jake's best friend who has a crush on Addy
* Martin Bobb-Semple as Evan, Bronwyn's boyfriend
* Karim Diane as Kris, Cooper's secret boyfriend
* Jacque Drew as Detective Wheeler
* Valerie Cruz as Isabella Rojas, Bronwyn and Maeve's mother
* Hugo Ateo as Javier Rojas, Bronwyn and Maeve's father (season 1)
* Miles J. Harvey as Lucas Clay, Cooper's younger brother (season 1)
* Ali Liebert as Ann Prentiss, Addy's mother
* Purva Bedi as Principal Gupta
* Andi Crown as Ms. Avery, an AP Physics teacher at Bayview High (season 1)
* Errol Shand as Brad Macauley, Nate's father (season 1)
* Aidee Walker as Ellen Macauley, Nate's mother
* Joe Witkowski as Cole Riordan, Jake's brother (season 2)
* Doralynn Mui as Fiona Jennings, a new student at Bayview (season 2, guest season 1)
* Emma Jenkins-Purro as Giselle Ward (season 2)

Episodes

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Production

''One of Us Is Lying'' is the 2017 debut novel of Karen M. McManus. In September 2017, Universal Content Productions announced it had acquired the rights to the novel and would produce a television series adaptation to be released on E!. In August 2019, the project was moved to NBCUniversal, who gave the then-unreleased streaming service Peacock its first pilot order with the series.

In September 2019, it was reported that Jennifer Morrison would direct the pilot episode. Auditions began that same month, and in October, Marianly Tejada, Cooper van Grootel, Annalisa Cochrane, Chibuikem Uche, Jessica McLeod, Barrett Carnahan, and Melissa Collazo were announced as part of the cast. In joining the series, van Grootel, Cochrane, and Uche all said they had not heard about the novel before they auditioned. Filming for the first episode took place in Vancouver, starting on November 2, 2019, and concluded on November 20.

On August 12, 2020, the project became the first from Peacock to receive a series order. The remaining seven episodes started shooting in New Zealand on May 10, 2021, with filming scheduled to conclude on September 24, 2021. That same year, Mark McKenna was confirmed as a series regular in July; Martin Bobb-Semple, Karim Diane, George Ferrier, Miles J. Harvey, Zenia Marshall, and Sara Thompson were announced as part of the recurring cast in August; and Alimi Ballard was confirmed in October. In an interview, series showrunner Darío Madrona was asked if the series would stay faithful to its source material; he responded by saying, "We've been faithful to the spirit of the story and the themes and the characters, but also trying to add some little twists and turns here and there so we can surprise readers of the book."

On January 14, 2022, Peacock renewed the series for a second season, with Saleh replacing Madrona as showrunner. In May 2022, Joe Witkowski and Doralynn Mui joined the cast in recurring roles. The second season premiered on October 20, 2022. Sara Thompson and Alimi Ballard were promoted to series regulars for the second season.

Reception

The first three episodes premiered on Peacock on October 7, 2021, followed by three episodes on October 14, and the final two episodes of the first season on October 21.

Before its premiere, critics were given the first three episodes to review. From ''The Wall Street Journal'', John Anderson said the series was difficult to categorize and wrote, "what distinguishes the series as storytelling, is the way it careens its way through its various plot points, unencumbered by the need for explanations or narrative development. We don't need all that. The conclusion will be a surprise, one assumes. But the getting there is, as they might say in French class, déjà vu." Brad Newsome, writing for ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', said the story "deftly tweaks its balance of suspicions to keep things interesting, but it's McKenna and Van Grootel who really pull focus." ''The Hollywood Reporter''s Angie Han said the series was missing a spark to set it apart from similar programming, with characters that feel like "archetypes," a "sour, dour mood, with few moments of either levity or raw pain," and dull colors that "keep the show's emotions at arm's length. The story moves forward at a painless pace, and the characters are easy enough to like, if not really interesting enough to love. But without any notable quirks or deep insights, it's also a show that seems likely to disappear from memory as soon as that binge is over."

References

External links

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{{Peacock (streaming service)

One of Us Is Lying
2020s American high school television series
2020s American LGBT-related drama television series
2020s American mystery television series
2020s American teen drama television series
2021 American television series debuts
American thriller television series
English-language television shows
Peacock (streaming service) original programming
Television series about social media
Television series about teenagers
Television series by Universal Content Productions
Television shows about murder
Television shows based on American novels
Television shows filmed in New Zealand